News 

Openreach will include BT's 25,000 field engineers whose 22,000 vans will be resprayed with brightly coloured waves, a little over two years after BT last repainted its fleet.

A new Equality of Access Board will be appointed to ensure that openreach delivers on the promises that NT has made to Ofcom (and will also keep an eye on BT Wholesale). Carl Symon, one of BT's non-executive directors, will chair the Board which will have a majority of independent external members.

openreach's newly appointed chief executive Steve Robertson said the aim is to deliver a business that everyone can be proud of.

'The local

ADVERTISEMENT

BT network is one of the UK's most important assets and my role is to ensure everyone has equal access to it,' he said. 'My team will be responsible for ensuring tens of millions of homes and businesses have access to the wider world and to faster and more exciting services in the future.'

BT has given Ofcom more than 230 separate commitments, which the regulator believes will: allow all communications providers to gain real equality of access to critical BT infrastructure on fair and equal terms, encouraging investment in infrastructure and enabling innovations through multiple services and the increasing deployment of next-generation technology; lead to lower prices and greater choice of products and services for consumers and businesses; and help to underpin the UK's industrial and economic competitiveness in the future.

'The new management of openreach and the Equality of Access Board must now deliver - and be seen to deliver,' said Stephen Carter, Ofcom's chief executive. 'Ofcom is hopeful that this new approach to competition regulation will stimulate investment, innovation and sustainable growth in this critical industrial sector.'